Follow Your Heart
by SuprSingr
Summary: What happens when Gerald finds Arnold banging his head against a tree? Why is Arnold doing this? Has he finally lost it? We all knew he would someday. But is that day today? Read to find out. ArnoldxHelga


**A/N: **Hey all! :D

Okay, I started this quite a long time ago on impulse, but never finished. I know the characters seem a little (Okay, a lot) OUT of character, BUT I wrote this right after watching some first-season episodes of the show. And they change quite a bit as the show goes on. So it will only seem out of character if you think of them in later seasons other than first and maybe second. You may want to watch an episode or two before you begin reading this, other-wise, it's gonna sound weird. Well, that's about it. Enjoy this little added thing of pointlessness. ;)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Hey Arnold!

_**~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ **_

**Follow Your Heart**

**One-Shot**

Arnold banged his head against the tree in the park repeatedly, his hands on either side of the trunk.

Gerald walked up to him, and watched for a few moments before asking, "Uh, Arnold... what are you doing?"

Arnold banged his head one last time, before stopping and looking over at Gerald with a tired expression, and a hand now rubbing his aching oblong head. "Nothing. I've just had something on my mind for a while now." He sighed, rubbing his eyes now.

Gerald looked at his friend in slight worry. "What have you had on your mind?"

Arnold stopped his actions, and looked at his friend with an unsure expression. He checked their surroundings, before sitting down on the ground cross-legged, as Gerald did the same beside him. He looked over at his darker friend for another moment, before sighing. "Can you... keep a secret, Gerald?"

Gerald simply nodded.

Arnold shook his head a little, leaning over towards him. "No, Gerald. This is serious. You cannot tell a _soul_. Understood?"

Gerald blinked at his friend. "Yeah, sure, man. My lips are sealed." He made a gesture of zipping his lips.

Arnold leaned back again, and stared at the grass a moment, before looking over at his friend in defeat. "Helga loves me." He dead panned with a half-lidded look over at his friend.

Gerald's eyes widened at that, and he just stared at his friend for several moments, before falling to the ground, gripping his stomach as loud laughs erupted from his mouth.

Arnold narrowed his eyes at him. "It's not funny, Gerald."

Gerald sat up, wiping tears from his eyes as he chuckled still. "I kn-know, Arnold. What _I _think is funny, is the fact that you actually think Helga G. Pataki is in love with you." He chuckled again.

Arnold blew some air out through his nose, and rubbed his forehead. "I don't _think_, Gerald. I know. Helga actually told me she was in love with me."

"Then she was lying. It's another one of her sick jokes." Gerald reasoned, shrugging.

Arnold shook his head. "No, Gerald. She was telling the truth. You didn't see the look in her eyes." He shuddered at the memory.

Gerald sighed. "Arnold, she doesn't love you. She hates you. She always has. It's the_ balance _of _nature_." Gerald said, putting his hands together with a serene expression.

"She was Deep Voice." Arnold told him simply.

Gerald choked on air, losing his serene look completely at those words.

Arnold ignored him, continuing, "I caught her on the roof top in a trench coat, holding a voice box. She was Deep Voice all along. She was giving up being rich just to help me. To help us. And..." He gulped. "She kissed me."

Gerald nearly passed out, and he got a woozy look, before shaking his head. "O-Okay... so lets just say that Helga has a sort of thing for you. So what? Why are you worrying? Just tell her no, and we can just move on." Gerald reasoned with a smile.

Arnold frowned, a weary look coming back to his eyes. He avoided Gerald's look. "Actually... um..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't really think I can just uh... reject her and be done with it." He folded his fingers together.

Gerald gawked at him. "Arnold, this is HELGA we're talkin' 'bout. Why can't you?"

Arnold winced, gripping his hands a bit harder unconsciously. "Well, uh..." He glanced away. "Can you keep... another secret, Gerald?" He glanced at him, unsure.

Gerald sighed, before nodding with a reassuring smile. "Of course, man. I don't got anyone to tell anyway." He shrugged.

"_Gerald_..."

"Fine, fine. I get it. I won't tell a soul." He promised, lifting a hand up in oath.

Arnold nodded, and unfolded his hands, putting his palms down behind him and leaning back a little. He stared up at the clouds as he spoke. "Well, back when I first met Helga..." He winced at what he was going to say next. "I sort of... kind of... might have... had a little crush on her." He twiddled his thumbs.

Gerald nearly fell over in shock, but he restrained himself to simply giving Arnold a look of complete disbelief. "Say WHAT?"

Arnold sighed a little. "Yeah, I know, Gerald." He looked over at him then. "I liked-her liked-her, okay?" He clasped his hands together again, leaning over with a slight hunch. "I just... thought she was cute was all." He shrugged, glancing back at Gerald boldly.

Gerald blinked at him. "_Okay_... so why can't you just tell her no and move on?"

Arnold took on a thoughtful look as he stared at his long time friend. "Well, if I could like her back then, before all the bullying and spitballs and name calling, which is apparently only because she _loves_ me," He glanced away. "well, then who's to say that I couldn't again?" He looked back at his friend.

Gerald stared at him as if he'd gone insane. "Arnold, man, do you realize what you're saying?" He leaned in, his eyes still wide. "You're actually considering having Helga G. Pataki as your freakin' GIRLFRIEND?"

"Woa!" Arnold tumbled backward, in both shock and instinct as Gerald had jolted even closer to him when shouting out 'GIRLFRIEND'. Arnold propped himself up on his elbows, staring at Gerald with wide eyes. "I-I-I..." He gulped at the mere thought. "I don't know..." He rubbed his forehead in slight exasperation. "It's just that... I don't know." He concluded again, sitting up all the way with sad looking eyes.

Gerald blinked at him, his eyes still wide. "Man, Arnold, where is your head?"

Arnold frowned then, looking at Gerald with his eyes slightly narrowed. "Gerald, thinking of the situation with my head is only going to get me a first-class ticket to alone-ville. And I don't want to be alone all my life." He shook his head.

Gerald raised an eyebrow, once again looking at him as if he'd lost it. "Arnold, we're ten. There'll be plenty of time to find a girlfriend. Just... not one that's Helga Pataki!" He flailed his arms.

Arnold frowned. "But..." He sighed, once again rubbing his forehead, feeling tired. "I don't know. Would it be wrong to say that there's this weird part of me that's actually kinda happy that Helga admitted to liking me?" He opened his eyes, looking to see Gerald staring at him again with that 'Are you NUTS?' look. Arnold sighed. "I can't think about this with my head, Gerald. I need to follow my heart. I mean, I know that Helga isn't exactly the picture of what I usually get a crush on, but she admitted to LOVING me. I can't just throw away something like that." He sighed again, propping his elbow on his knee and resting his head in his hand. He closed his eyes. "I just need to do some soul searching."

Gerald frowned. "Man, Arnold, how cliche' can you be? 'Follow your heart'? What kinda sick-" A flock of random kids ran by then, all giggling at the top of their lungs, muffling over Gerald's next few words. Once gone, Gerald was still talking, unaffected by the children. "-is that? I mean, it's HELGA. Can't you-"

"Gerald," Arnold cut off, growing a bit impatient. "Believe me, my head is telling me to pack my things and run. But my heart is..." He stopped right there, staring at the ground with a thoughtful expression for a moment before looking back up at Gerald with once again, tired eyes. "Well, for whatever reason, it won't let me tell her no." He shrugged.

Gerald blinked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Okay, does that mean it wants to tell her YES?"

Arnold grew thoughtful again, before groaning and falling back onto the grass, his arms going extending out on either side of him. "I don't know..." He mumbled. "It's just won't let me reject her, though. Which is just as surprising to me as it is to you, so please, no more looking at me as if I've completely lost it, because I'm still asking myself that same question..." He let out another slight sigh.

Gerald looked thoughtful this time, before his eyes lit up and he smiled over at Arnold, though he knew he couldn't see. "Yo, Arnold, I think it's just your 'all around great guy' nature that won't let you reject her. You're just too nice." He reasoned, happily concluding this as a fact as a relief of thinking Arnold was suddenly LIKING her.

Arnold opened his eyes, blinking at that. He bit his lip, looking off to the side with a pensive look. Slowly, he shook his head. "I... I don't think that's it, actually..." He blinked. "I..." He sighed again, a slight groan escaping him. He sat up again, looking at Gerald seriously. "Look, when I think about all the mean things she's done just to bug me..." He clenched his fists, baring his teeth with a low growl. "She just... she makes me so mad..." He said seethed lowly, his eyes narrowed. He took a deep breath. "But..." He sighed, his eyes going back to normal and his hands unclenching. "When I used to think of nothing but that after he confession, I almost stomped right over to her and told her 'no way'." He confessed, before he sat up a bit more, his feet going underneath him as he sat. "But when I thought about all the nice stuff she's done, which has surprisingly been a lot, I can't help but really like her." He shrugged. "That's always been an internal battle I've had with myself, even before she confessed. I could never really figure out whether I really liked her, or didn't like her at all. I mean, sometimes she's really nice and actually kinda... sweet." He smiled a little. "But then other times, most of the time, she's really mean and cruel and self-centered it seems, but I could never really blame her for that because of her family." He sighed again, slumping. "So now I'm still having that problem. How can I know if I like her or not, if I don't know the real her?"

Gerald blinked, taking all this in. He shrugged. "Beats me, buddy. I still think you're insane for considering all this at all."

Arnold sighed a little. "Maybe I am. I don't know. But it's still something I've got to think about."

"So you mean there's a chance?"

Arnold shrugged, currently looking away. "Yeah, I guess there is."

"Huh?" Gerald asked, looking over at him with a questioning look. "What are you talking about?"

Arnold looked back over at him, blinking and his mouth in the shape of a little 'o'. "I was just answering your question."

"Man, I didn't say anything." Gerald informed him, his hands on his hips and an eyebrow raised.

Arnold blinked in bewilderment.

"Man, you really have lost it." Gerald said. "First considering Helga G. Pataki as your potential girlfriend, and now hearing voices?" He shook his head. "Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm."

Arnold narrowed his eyes a little in defense. "Hey, I'm telling you, Gerald. I just heard someone ask me 'If there was a chance' that I'd actually end up liking Helga."

Gerald sighed, still shaking his head. "Well, it wasn't me, man."

Arnold stared at him a moment longer, before his eyes coated in worry that perhaps he really had lost it, before he shook his head, once AGAIN feeling tired. "Whatever..."

Gerald shrugged it off, automatically converting back to his usual easy-going look. "Anyway, you want to go shoot some hoops with me?" He asked with a slight smile, standing up. "Maybe it'll get your mind off of all this Helga stuff for a while. You seem like you could use a break from your 'soul searching'."

Arnold looked up at him with a blank expression, before standing up and shaking his head. "Nah, I think I'll just head home and have some hot chocolate to clear my head."

Gerald smiled, doing his 'secret handshake' with Arnold. "Okay, buddy. Take it easy." They both parted ways then.

Once they were both gone, Helga poked her head out from behind the tree, looking around to make sure the coast was clear. Once concluding this, her face suddenly blossomed into a huge smile, and she jumped out from behind the tree, doing a happy dance, her pigtails going all around as she danced giddily. "There's a chance! There's a chance! There's a CHANCE!" She squealed to herself in sheer joy.

_FIN_

_**~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ Follow Your Heart ~ **_

******A/N: **Yep, just teensy bit pointless, but I can't control these strange compulsions to write these random fics as soon as they pop into my head. *Shrugs* But I don't want any lip. Just take what you get and shut up. XD

Anyway, if you would be so kind... *Flutters eyelashes*

_**REVIEW!**_


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